Olympic cyclists Sam Dakin and Callum Saunders were on site at our Digital Pop-up Shop in November 2020 in Hamilton, tapping into some digital expertise ahead of launching their new business.
These young men have founded an online recruitment business called Athlete Community Link, which identifies employment opportunities for athletes that fit around their training and race schedules.
Sam and Callum know from experience that professional athletes need a back-up plan should injury strike. Gaining practical work experience will also help their employment prospects once they retire from sport. Securing work outside of their chosen sport also provides athletes with more balance for their mental well-being, as well as much needed extra income. These athletes are an untapped workforce of driven, world class talent.
Sam and Callum know their stuff and have been working with the team at Rocketspark to develop a website for their new business. As part of High Performance Sport New Zealand’s athlete-friendly network, Rocketspark provides websites and ongoing support to HPSNZ athletes as they hone in on their Tokyo 2021 Olympic aspirations and grow their personal brand online.
Attending the Google Analytics and Website Workshops at the Digital Pop-up Shop gave them some practical tips and knowledge to implement changes to their site and get it ready for go-live.
“We’re now confident that our website will appeal to our target audiences and that we have the tools in place to monitor our website traffic from day one."
“The website workshop with the Rocketspark team was really hands-on. They took us through the process of setting up our website, helping us get our flow of text content right, and making sure our home page was visually engaging. Grant’s five tips for making a website work were super valuable.”
Sam and Callum also enjoyed the networking opportunities the event provided.
“We met other Waikato business owners we wouldn’t have otherwise interacted with,” says Callum. “A lot of our business will be word of mouth so making those connections is incredibly important."
“If we could do it again, we would. You can’t put a price on having an expert there in person, to jump onto your computer and show you the way around their platform. Grant and the team's comments and suggestions were so helpful and Grant’s breadth of knowledge is incredible. The Digital Pop-up Shop is definitely a cost-effective way for businesses to get hands-on advice.”
